Geopolitical Europe Pulse: Xi Jinping's visit to Europe
3 May 2024
It’s Friday — time for the Geopolitical Europe Pulse, a compilation of articles and resources on a specific topic of current affairs with particular relevance for Europe’s, and the EU’s, role in the world. This week’s edition brings you a roundup of content on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Europe, and more broadly on EU-China relations.
What’s on? Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit France, Serbia, and Hungary from 5 to 10 May. The meeting in Paris will be a trilateral one with French President Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. It is the first time for the Chinese President to visit Europe in five years.
Why does the visit matter? China policy of EU member states also always has a European component, and even though heads of state and government or ministers speak in their national capacity, the messaging does matter for the perception of “team Europe” in the world. Earl Wang and myself argue in this piece that French President Macron can set a positive example for endorsing the EU’s de-risking agenda, and thereby demonstrate that the approach is both “made in Brussels” and implemented by member states — in other words, a Team Europe approach.
Throwback: When German Chancellor Scholz visited China in April, he was criticised for insufficiently addressing European concerns and instead focusing on economic cooperation, leaving de-risking to companies. However, this should not lead to the conclusion that Sino-German relations will be smooth in the future. This MERICS Briefing explains why.
Background on EU economic policy, electric vehicles, and China: The visit comes at a time where the EU Commission is considering to impose duties on highly subsidised Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) entering the European market. However, experts from Rhodium Group argue that these duties might not have the intended effect, and that Brussels might want to take factors like environmental standards or national security-related aspects into consideration. The full briefing with extensive background on the European EV market and Chinese and European competition is available here.
Big picture: The big challenge for the EU when crafting China policy is that China policy is just as much about navigating the relationship with Beijing as with Washington, given that the US increasingly pressure Europeans to follow their strategy on China. Accordingly, “Europe is both a site of and participant in contemporary US–China geopolitical competition”, write Richard Maher and Till Schöfer in their fresh-off-the-press book chapter “Europe’s role in US-China Strategic Competition”.